Biroul fara hartii/paperless office

“…until copiers, fax machines and printers are completely removed from an organization, the idea of a paperless office will never happen. As long as individuals have the ability to print documents they’ll utilize the resourices.”

“There still remains a requirement to keep certain documents in their original format for signature verification, etc. Having said that – I see the trend of the concept of the paperless office growing. The costs related to scanning and properly indexing images can sometimes be cost-prohibited depending on the retention/use value of the document.”

“It’s better to accept we are all shooting for a “less paper intense” office rather than a “PAPERLESS OFFICE”.

“Efforts can be made to change practices that will reduce the amount of paper used in many settings, but I seriously doubt we will ever see a totally paperless office.”

“I’m thinking it will be a generational thing. Kids growing up now using iPods and iPads, etc., etc., will not have the desire to communicate (and by communicate I include many things like review, mark-up, and revise architectural drawings) via paper and will prefer to use their electronic devises. I think 30 years from now it will be a world in which Steve W. would really like to live and work.”

“1. Despite being an advocate of paperless e-records use as a primary means of records management and communication I am surrounded by paper – because not all of my business and social contacts will stop sending me paper! Some of it I scan and some of it I add to a few remaining paper files, because (as in so many business cases) it is not worth the ROI to scan an entire file of paper into images.

2. The vast majority of medical records and many business today are still in paper format and always will be because of the cost of conversion – too little ROI. Ask any small office physician. Or any attorney of any size firm. And a lot of issues remain about digital preservation vs long term information retention. Let’s not get started on that one! I did a presentation last year for the IIMC on “the Successful Use of Microfilm Today.” Physical media has advantages.

3. Why do you get paper receipts everywhere – restaurants, airlines, the dry cleaners, etc.? Because paper is often the most cost effective means of low tech and personal business communication . You do not have to worry about transferring data to an incompatible operating system, application or hardware port. Retail outlets, hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. etc.

It simply works. Paper will be around a long time for small businesses which comprise the vast majority of business in the world. Paper has no worries about IT infrastructure, data exchange formats, technology obsolescence, etc.

4. Doing business with foreign countries? Check out the Records Storage companies making huge bucks storing paper in foreign countries. India is a good example where they are self-described as being swamped in paper. It’s cultural. It requires no electricity. Are we going to insist that other countries and cultures adopt a high tech business model when they do not have the infrastructure?

5. Disasters. What if your directions for starting your emergency generator are in a flash drive taped to the side of the unit, and the battery in your laptop is dead? You will wish you had left paper records to read. Think about hurricanes, tornados, or storms. How many people went for a week or more without any power recently during a snowstorm? The combination to the lock on the basement door where the emergency food and supplies are stored had better not be in a computer.

6. Outside of the urban infrastructure? Try hiking the Appalachian Trail or anywhere else outdoors and depending Google Maps where there are no cell phone towers within sight. You need batteries and a working device, both of which you will have long ago left behind due to their weight and fragility.

Paper maps are much better along with a compass. Your GPS may be dead.

Satellite phones go dead.

In many cases – paper is better for communication, stores better locally, is more rugged, can more easily be made available, and is accepted without question as a useful authentic record. We just don’t want to be swamped by it or enslaved to using it when it does not add value to what we are doing.”